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Word stress
Word stress is the specific stressed syllable in the pronunciation of a particular word. A great number of words in English only have one syllable (for example go, eat, wait, eight, house, prince, friends, thieves, straight, etc.). In these cases the stress can only be located in that syllable. In longer words the stress can lie in any syllable: *First syllable: doc'tor; '''hand'icap; 'tes'timony; 'cap'italism; *Second syllable: a'''lone; im'por'tant; com'pa'rison; so'phis'ticated; *Third syllable: under'stand'; contro'ver'sial; uni'ver'sity; *Fourth syllable: configu'ra'tion; experi'men'tal; responsi'bil'ity While on the subject, as in all aspects of language, a constantly-evolving mode of communication among human beings, the stress on words can also shift over time.David Crystal, "A pronounced change in British speech" PDF format IPA symbol In IPA the primary stress is marked with a small raised vertical line preceding the stressed syllable: doc'tor ho'tel ex'per'ience pro'fes'sional Secondary stress Long words may have an extra stress, the second most stressed syllable in the word. The secondary stress is marked with a small lowered vertical line preceding the stressed syllable: information understand represent Words with secondary stress are pronounced as if they were two different words, and one of them has the primary stress: infor-mation, under-stand, repre-sent. If a word has two secondary stresses it is pronounced as three small words: onomatopoeia /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/ ono-mato-poeia; heterosexuality /ˌhetərəˌsekʃuːˈælətiː/ hetero-sexu-ality. Some general rules Nouns, etc. What is said here about nouns is also valid for other parts of speech, except verbs. Two syllables *Two-syllable nouns often, but not always, have the stress on the first syllable: :Nouns: cof'fee - '''coun'try - 'ef'fort - 'en'gine - 'ex'it - 'ex'pert - 'ex'port - 'in'crease - 'lev'el - 'mor'ning - 'num'ber - 'peo'ple - 'pep'per - 'prob'lem - 're'cord - 'res'cue - 'se'cond - 'sen'tence - 'sys'tem - 'wa'ter :Other parts of speech: 'af'ter - 'an'y - 'cen'tral - 'lit'tle - 'man'y - 'men'tal - 'on'ly - 'oth'er - 'o'ver - 'some'thing - 'ver'y Exceptions: :Nouns: aˈmount''' - at'ˈtack' - at'ˈtempt' - ca'ˈnal' - con'ˈtrol' - de'ˈfence' - de'ˈmand' - di'ˈsease' - e'ˈclipse' - ef'ˈfect' - ex'ˈcept' - ex'ˈtinct' - ho'ˈtel' - Ju'ˈly' - ma'ˈchine' - po'ˈlice' - re'ˈceipt' - re'ˈply' - re'ˈport' - re'ˈsearch' - re'ˈsult' - suc'ˈcess' - sup'ˈport' :Other parts of speech: a'ˈbove' - a'ˈbout' - a'ˈgain' - a'ˈgainst' - a'ˈhead' - a'ˈlone' - al'ˈthough' - a'ˈmong' - a'ˈround' - a'ˈware' - a'ˈway' - be'ˈcause' - be'ˈfore' - be'ˈhind' - be'ˈlow' - be'ˈtween' - e'ˈnough' - per'ˈhaps' - to'ˈday' - un'ˈtil' - u'ˈpon' - with'ˈin' - with'ˈout' Three syllables *Stress in the first syllable :an'imal - '''ben'efit - 'com'pany - 'de'finite - 'ˈex'erˌcise - 'fam'ily - 'gen'eral - 'gen'tlemen - 'gov'ernment - 'hand'icap - 'rec'ipe - 'sec'retary - 'yes'terday *Stress in the second syllable: :aˈnoth'er - be'ˈhav'ior - com'ˈpo'ser - De'ˈcem'ber - de'ˈpar'ture - de'ˈtec'tive - e'ˈmo'tion - e'ˈxam'ple - ex'ˈpen'sive - go'ˈril'la - re'ˈmain'der *Stress in the third syllable: :ˌafter'ˈnoon''' - ˌany'ˈmore' - ˌengi'ˈneer' - ˌguaran'ˈtee' - ˌover'ˈseas' - ˌrefu'ˈgee' - ˌseven'ˈteen' - ˌvolun'ˈteer' Four or more syllables *Stress in the first syllable :ac'tually - 'ˈmil'iˌtary - '''nec'essary - 'ˈsec'reˌtary - 'tel'evision *Stress in the second syllable: :acˈtiv'ity - ex'ˈper'ience - de'ˈvel'opment - po'ˈlit'ical - se'ˈcur'ity *In nouns ending -isation or -ization, we stress the /eɪ/: :'ˈciv'iˌlise – ˌcivili'ˈsa'tion; 'ˈim'provise – improvi'ˈsa'tion; '''or'ganise – organi'ˈsa'tion; pri'''vatise – privatiˈsa'tion; *Stress in the third syllable: :ˌcate'ˈgor'ical - ˌcontro'ˈver'sial - ˌenter'ˈtain'ment - ˌindis'ˈtin'guishable - ˌinfor'ˈma'tion - ˌinter'ˈmit'tent - ˌrepro'ˈdu'cible - ˌuni'ˈver'sity *Stress in the fourth syllable: :ˌcharacte'ˈris'tic - conˌfigu'ˈra'tion - ˌetymo'ˈlog'ical - exˌperi'ˈmen'tal - reˌsponsi'ˈbil'ity Verbs Two syllables *verbs with two syllables often, but not always, have the stress on the second: :a'ˈgree''' - ap'ˈply' - ar'ˈrive' - be'ˈcome' - be'ˈgin' - be'ˈlieve' - com'ˈpare' - com'ˈplain' - com'ˈply' - de'ˈcide' - de'ˈclare' - de'ˈfy' - de'ˈpend' - dis'ˈcuss' - en'ˈjoy' - ex'ˈplain' - ex'ˈport' - for'ˈget' - im'ˈprove' - in'ˈclude' - in'ˈcrease' - in'ˈvite' - pre'ˈpare' - pre'ˈtend' - pre'ˈvent' - pro'ˈvide' - re'ˈceive' - re'ˈcord' - re'ˈfer' - re'ˈfuse' - re'ˈgret' - re'ˈmain' - re'ˈpeat' - re'ˈply' - re'ˈport' - re'ˈspect' - re'ˈsult' - re'ˈturn' - re'ˈveal' - re'ˈwind' - sug'ˈgest' Exceptions: an'swer - '''ar'gue - 'can'cel - 'cen'ter /'cen'tre - 'col'or /'col'our - 'dif'fer - 'ed'it - 'en'ter - 'ex'it - 'fig'ure - 'fol'low - 'hap'pen - 'is'sue - 'lev'el - 'li'mit - 'mat'ter - 'mar'ket - 'of'fer - 'o'pen - 'or'der - 'ques'tion - 'rea'son - 'si'lence - 'stud'y - 'val'ue - 'vi'sit'' Three syllables *Stress in the first syllable :'ben'efit - 'ev'idence - 'dom'inate - 'ed'ucate - 'hes'itate - 'in'dicate - 'in'fluence - 'mul'tiply :Many verbs ending in "-ise /-ize": 'civ'ilise/'civ'ilize - 'or'ganise/'or'ganize - 're'alise/'re'alize - 'rec'ognise/'rec'ognize *Stress in the second syllable :conˈtin'ue - con'ˈsid'er - de'ˈvel'op - re'ˈcov'er - re'ˈmem'ber *Stress in the third syllable :decom'ˈpose''' - recom'ˈmend' - under'ˈstand' Four or more syllables *Stress in the second syllable :ap'ˈpre'ciate - ap'ˈpro'priate - as'ˈso'ciate - co'ˈmu'nicate - ex'ˈper'iment - i'ˈden'tify - ex'ˈper'ience - e'ˈval'uate :Some verbs ending in "-ise /-ize": com'ˈmer'cialise/com'ˈmer'cialize - fa'ˈmil'iarise/fa'ˈmil'iarize - pri'ˈor'itise/pri'ˈor'itize *Stress in the third syllable :decon'ˈta'minate - ˌmanu'ˈfac'ture The letter e There are many words which have "e" in the first syllable. In many cases if you know the stress you can predict the pronunciation and viceversa *Most words with the first e''' pronounced like /ɪ/ are stressed in the second syllable. :Nouns: be'''lief - De'cem'ber - de'fence' - de'mand' - de'par'ture - de'tec'tive - e'clipse' - el'lipse' - e'mo'tion - e'xam'ple - ex'cept' - ex'pen'sive - ex'per'ience - ex'tinct' - re'ceipt' - re'port' - re'search' - re'sult' :Verbs: be'come' - be'gin' - be'lieve' - de'cide' - de'clare' - de'fy' - de'pend' - en'joy' - e'val'uate - ex'plain' - ex'per'ience - pre'pare' - pre'tend' - pre'vent' - re'ceive' - re'cov'er - re'fer' - re'fuse' - re'gret' - re'main' - re'mem'ber - re'peat' - re'ply' - re'port' - re'spect' - re'turn' - re'veal' - re'wind' :Other parts of speech: be'cause' - be'fore' - be'tween' *When the first e''' is the stressed syllable, it is usually pronounced / /: :Nouns: 'beg'gar - 'ben'efit - 'cel'ery - 'cer'emony - 'ef'fort - 'en'gine - 'ex'ercise - 'ex'it - 'ex'pert - 'gen'eral - 'gen'tlemen - 'lev'el - 'mech'anism - 'pep'per - 'rec'ipe - 're'cord - 'res'cue - 'se'cond - 'sec'retary - 'sen'tence - 'veg'etable - 'yes'terday :Verbs: 'det'onate - 'ed'it - 'ed'ucate - 'en'ter - 'ex'it - 'hes'itate - 'lev'el :Other parts of speech: 'cen'tral - 'de'finitely - 'fed'eral - 'men'tal This is particularly noticeable in many verbs which have the same spelling for the noun; See Heteronym. :ex'''port (v.) - ex'port ''(n.); re'''cord (v.) - re'cord ''(n.); Exceptions: :First syllable ::/ɪ/: 'Eng'land - 'Eng'lish - 'pret'ty ::/iː/: 'de'cent - 'de'tail - 'e'ven - 'fe'male - 'le'gal - 'Pe'ter - 'pre'vious - 're'cent - 're'gion - 're'tail - 'sec'ret - 'se'quence - 've'hicle :Second syllable ::/iː/: re'''play ::/ /: tech'nique' :Third syllable ::/ /: cele'bra'tion Heteronyms Many heteronyms have a difference in stress. In many cases a noun is stressed in the first syllable and a verb is stressed in the second. ;Noun-verb *''' ˈat'tribute ''(n.) - at'ˈtrib'ute (v.); ˈcon'tract ''(n.) - conˈtract''' (v.); ˈex'port ''(n.) - exˈport''' (v.); ˈin'sult ''(n.) - inˈsult''' (v.); ˈrec'ord ''(n.) - reˈcord''' (v.); ;Other *a'ˈrith'metic (n.) - arith'ˈmet'ic (adj.); ˈin'valid ''(n.) - inˈval'id ''(adj.); Minimal pairs *'ˈdif' ˈfer - de'ˈfer'; ˈin'''sight - inˈcite'; 'ˈin'sult ''(n.) - in'ˈsult' (v.) Many words that appear to be minimal pairs, with only stress as a difference, also have a vowel change. For example the noun "ˈexport" is pronounced with / / and the verb "exˈport" is pronounced with /ɪ/. Variant pronunciations Some words may be pronounced with stress in different syllables. In some cases there is a regional variation. *ad'dress'/'ad'dress - a'dult'/'ad'ult - ad'ver'tisement /adver'tise'ment - com'posite /com'pos'ite - '''con'troversy (traditional pronunciation, both and )/con'tro'versy (new pronunciation, peculiarly )The Telegraph, The 'conTROversy' over changing pronunciations, 5 Feb 2011 - 'kil'ometre/ki'lom'etre - 'trans'ference /trans'fer'ence This is particularly noticeable in French borrowings. *'bal'let /bal'''let - chau'ffeur /chauf'feur - fi'an'cé(e) /fian'cé(e)' - gar'age /ga'rage - lin'gerie /linge'rie Many words that have a secondary stress in American English don't pronunce that vowel in British English: *cemetery /ˈs məˌt riː/ - /ˈs mətriː/ *military /ˈmɪləˌt riː/ - /ˈmɪlətriː/ *ordinary /ˈɔːrdənˌ riː/ - /ˈɔːrdənriː/ *secretary /ˈs krəˌt riː/ - /ˈs krətriː/ *temporary /ˈtempər riː/ - /ˈtemprəriː/ *laboratory /ˈlæbrəˌtɔːriː/ - /ləˈbɒrətriː/ In other cases the vowel is a schwa in British English. *adversary /ˈædvərˌseriː/ - /ˈædvərsəriː/ *capillary: /ˈkæpəˌleriː/ - /kəˈpɪləriː/ *category /ˈkætəɡɔːriː/ - /ˈkætəɡəriː/ *customary /ˈkʌstəˌmeriː/ - /ˈkʌstəməriː/ *literary /ˈlɪtəˌreriː/ - /ˈlɪtərəriː/ *necessary /ˈn səˌs riː/ - /ˈn səsəriː/ *rosemary /ˈrəʊzˌmeriː/ - /ˈrəʊzməriː/ Other words don't have a secondary accent even if they end in "ry": *adultery /əˈdʌltəriː/ *delivery /dɪˈlɪvəriː/ See also Varisyllabic words. Unstressed words :Main article: Weak form Many common words can be unstressed in a sentence. For example, "ˌI can ˈswim" has stresses in "I" and in "swim". In "ˌYes, ˌI ˈcan" all words are stressed. Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1 Spanish Many Spanish speakers think that all English words are stressed in the first syllable, and they pronounce , , , , or . Even the word car'tel' is pronounced "cártel" by many people when speaking Spanish.Real Academia Española, Diccionario de la lengua española (DLE) cartel2 References See also *Different stress in similar words Category:Pronunciation exercises Category:Decoding written words ˈ